Fusion in Europe 1 | 2015

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FUSION IN EUROPE NEWS

&

VIEWS

ON

THE

PROGRESS

OF

FUSION

RESEARCH

KEEPING IT ON THE BOIL THREE TOKAMAKS AND ONE STELLARATOR OPERATE SIMULTANEOUSLY

A NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN INTERVIEW WITH BERNARD BIGOT

OUT OF THE TOKAMAK AND INTO INDUSTRY

1 | 2015

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1 | 2015

FUSION IN EUROPE

Contents Moving Forward EUROfusion

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Congratulations from all over the world

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Keeping it on the boil: Three tokamaks and one stellarator

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Runaway electrons: The challenge of inventing an airbag for ITER

A special eye on the stellarator wall

Research units 8

JET’s next tritium experiments materialise

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A special eye on the stellarator wall

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Having your tokamak cake and eating it

Interview

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A new broom sweeps clean: Interview with Bernard Bigot

A new broom sweeps clean: Interview with Bernard Bigot

Fuel for Thought 15

FUSION IN EUROPE invites: Ortwin Renn

Community People 16

Young faces of fusion – Marwa Ben Yaala

In Dialogue 17

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A pop up school for future European scientists

Marketplace 18

Out of the tokamak and into industry

Everything was illuminated

News 20

Portraits at an exhibition

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Everything was illuminated

Perspectives Summing Up The team of the W 7-X stellarator in Greifswald achieved an essential milestone in mid-July: the first magnetic field.

(Picture: Matthias Otte, IPP)

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“When I saw ASDEX Upgrade, …

FUSION … is LOVE Imprint

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| Moving Forward | EUROfusion |

CONGRATULATIONS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

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t seems like the international fusion research community could hardly wait for it to happen: On 16th of July, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) announced the first magnetic field in the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. Well-known fusion scientists from all over the world congratulated the institute and its researchers for reaching this essential milestone in operational preparations. Later this year, Wendelstein 7-X will produce its first plasma. With the help of IPP Fusion in Europe compiled a selection of the congratulations:

“My compliments on this success! Today, I’m even more pleased that Wendelstein 7-X has become an integral part of the European Fusion Roadmap.”

Prof Tony Donné, EUROfusion Programme Manager

“Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the entire U. S. collaboration team are extremely excited to see the initial field line mapping results from the Wendelstein 7-X device. We applaud the IPP team and Max Planck Institute […].We look forward to continuing to work with our German colleagues on this intriguing scientific experiment and to its coming important research contributions to fusion energy.”

Dr David A. Gates, Stellarator Physics Leader, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, USA

“What a great step!! Congratulations! Looking forward seeing the real […] soon.”

Prof Hiroshi Yamada, National Institute of Fusion Science, Tokio, Japan

“Congratulations to you and the IPP team on this monumental achievement. It bodes very well for a rich and productive programme in the coming years and represents a great leap forward for the international stellarator program.”

Prof John Howard, Director of the Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility, Head of the Plasma Research Laboratory at Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

“e successful first operation […] is a major technical milestone for which the entire IPP team must be congratulated.[…] Its result will be transformational towards our understanding of transport, stability and boundary plasmas in stellarators, and bring us closer to producing intrinsically steady-state, high fusion performance plasmas.”

Prof Dennis G. Whyte, Director, Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

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FUSION IN EUROPE

KEEPING IT ON THE BOIL:

THREE TOKAMAKS AND ONE STELLARATOR “Oh ... well … now, that is interesting” – Andrew Kirk lifts his hand to his forehead and stares at the screen.

Another shot, a short burst of plasma lasting for less than a second, has just been triggered. On this particular ursday morning, the ASDEX control room in Garching is crowded with people bending their heads over their laptops or discussing with colleagues. “We expected something like this but ... not quite this”, Andrew Kirk muses and rushes back to his laptop.

THREE TOKAMAKS AND A STELLARATOR e British scientist from the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy is one of 391 European researchers participating in the EUROfusion medium size tokamak (MST) work package. Within this, ASDEX-Upgrade experiments are set to take place from mid-June 2015 until the end of April 2016. e results which have set Kirk’s head spinning are some of the first, but there are many more to come. On behalf of EUROfusion, three tokamaks and one stellarator are about to operate at the same time: Two MSTs, ASDEXUpgrade in Garching and the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) in Lausanne, and the Joint European Torus (JET) in Culham will be pulling out all the stops. At the end of this year, a stellarator will also be joining in: Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X).

FOUR DEVICES DESIGNED TO MEET ONE GOAL: ITER e scientific aims of the 2015 EUROfusion experiments are dedicated to finally demonstrating the feasibility of fusion electricity production by 2050, as described in the European fusion roadmap. ITER is the key step towards this final goal. is certainly applies to the experiments of Kirk, who is involved in the control of Edge Localised Modes (ELMs).

“Imagine putting a saucepan of water onto a hob and turning on the heat. Eventually the water will start boiling, turbulences occur at the surface, carrying away precious energy. To keep the energy contained you will use a lid. Under the lid the steam pressure builds up. Depending on the

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rate of heating, either the pan boils over, which is a plasma disruption or if the heating is not too great, the pressure increases just enough to raise the lid in a cycle of poppop-pop – this pressure relaxation is similar to an eruptive instability in tokamaks which we call an ELM”, he explains.

To avoid this constant clattering of the lid, the chef can insert a spoon under the lid allowing a little steam to escape. Andrew and his colleagues use the “stick a spoon in” method which, in scientific terms means the modification of the magnetic surfaces near the edge of the plasma by triggering perturbation in the magnetic field.

Hence, after every shot in the tokamak, Kirk checks the screen that hangs from the ceiling in the middle of the ASDEX control room. e graph of density over time and its ups and downs provide important information for the energetic scientist.

TRAVELLING FUSION SCIENTISTS e simultaneous operations of ASDEX, JET, TCV and W7-X in the second half of 2015 will require fusion scientists to travel all over Europe. It is a credit to the organisational skills of the EUROfusion team that a twoweek postponement of the Garching campaign could smoothly be dealt with by Kirk and the participating colleagues. On a tight schedule, Marie-Line Mayoral and Laura Barrera Orte, the Responsible Officers from the ITER Physics Department meet every Monday afternoon with the MST Task Force Leaders Piero Martin, omas Eich, Hendrik Meyer, Stefano Coda and Marc Beurskens to oversee organisation. With the help of Arne Kallenbach, the ASDEX operator, they needed to reschedule the experimental programme in Garching as a result of a diagnostic problem that occurred just shortly before the campaign was due to start.

“Coordinating people is not just a question of logistics.

In fact, we rather focus on scientific aspects, making sure that the teams we want are there when they are needed.

For this reason, we want to get the best results out of the experimental programme”, says Mayoral. e organisation of the campaign began about a year before the actual

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| Moving Forward | EUROfusion |

JET (Joint European Torus) Type: Tokamak Location: Culham Centre of Fusion Energy (United Kingom) Recent upgrades: • Re-instating the ITER-like antenna to increase the ICRH power • Optimise the pellet injection track Operation Schedule: • mid-October 2015 until April 2016 Number of European scientists attending: • 381 Focus of the JET1 campaign: • Optimisation of ITER regimes of operation in the presence of the ITER-like Wall • Preparation of the JET DT Campaign • First batch of tritium delivered

W7-X (Wendelstein 7-X) Type: Stellarator Location: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald (Germany) Recent upgrades: New device Operational time: Start in late 2015 Number of European scientists attending: • about 100 Focus of the S1 campaign : • Preparation of diagnostics and components • Development of scenarios • Conducting of predictive modelling scenarios • First studies of plasma initiation with ECRH, confinement, impurity transport, power and particle exhaust

TCV (Tokamak à Configuration Variable) Type: Medium Sized Tokamak Location: École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) Recent upgrades: • Major upgrade in heating power (ECRH and NBI) to make TCV a Medium-Size Tokamak • Installation of the neutral beam injector Operation Schedule: • Oct. 2015 until end of April 2016 Number of European scientists attending: 165 Focus of the MST 1 campaign: • Investigating snowflake divertor configurations • Exploitation of the shaping flexibility and new heating source upgrade for alternative divertor geometry and ELMy H-mode studies • Disruption mitigation and control

ASDEX (Axially Symmetric Divertor EXperiment) Upgrade Type: Medium Sized Tokamak Location: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching (Germany) Recent upgrades: • Installation of two, three straps ICRH antenna to increase the power Operation schedule: • mid-July 2015 until end of April 2016 Number of European scientists attending: 391 Focus of the MST 1 campaign: • Demonstration of ELM mitigation and/or suppression (magnetic coils and pellets) • Divertor heat load control with high radiation power fraction in ITER-relevant scenarios (Pictures: EUROfusion/IPP)

start. After a call for proposals, the EUROfusion team selected the experiments to be run and the number of shots to be carried out during each of them. Afterwards, the scientists were attached to the respective experimental teams, in accordance with their competencies.

JET, TCV AND W7-X ABOUT TO TAKE OFF e next facility to take off during the 2015 campaign will be JET, which will focus on preparing for the deuterium-tritium operation. e tokamak TCV in Lausanne restarted operations after a 19-month shutdown during which its vacuum vessel was modified to accommodate its first neutral beam. After the installation of the neutral beam injector, TCV will be operating from early August, in preparation for a campaign starting on 5th of October.

W7-X in Greifswald is also almost ready to rumble. e key element of EUROfusion’s goal is to bring stellarators to maturity as a possible alternative solution for fusion energy . Scheduled for the last half of 2015, the first plasma on this brand new machine and next generation stellarator device is enthusiastically anticipated.

LAUNCHING EUROFUSION HAS BOOSTED EUROPEAN FUSION RESEARCH Bringing together the operations of three European tokamaks and one stellarator will be a major achievement. e essential re-organisation of EUROfusion has been necessary to operate the machines and to coordinate the work of the EUROfusion scientists effectively. Following this, JET activities, which were run separately under the former European Fusion Development Agreement, have now been integrated into the ITER Physics Department. “e Task Force Leaders and Project Leaders, together with the rest of the EUROfusion team, are now using this organisation to perform the required design and development for ITER’s success and the preparation of DEMO,” says Darren McDonald, Deputy Head of EUROfusion’s ITER Physics Department. n

CONTACTS

T

Darren McDonald darren.mcdonald@euro-fusion.org EUROfusion /fusion2050 /FusionInCloseUp

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FUSION IN EUROPE

RUNAWAY ELECTRONS: Runaway electrons are the most dangerous

BEAMS AS RESULT OF DISRUPTIONS

particles in fusion plasma. What is it that forces

Piero Martin, together with his fellow MST1 Task Force leaders, is in charge of an international experimental campaign at EUROfusion’s MSTs ASDEX-Upgrade and Tokamak à Configuration Variable, where strong emphasis is devoted to the study of runaway electrons. A MST1 team led by scientific coordinators Joan Decker, Basilio Esposito, Marco Gobbin, Gergely Papp and Gabriella Pautasso is currently examining obstacles for dashing electrons which would effectively stop them from creating dangerous electron beams. e particles are able to literally run away when disruptions happen during a fusion experiment. A disruption is a very sudden termination of the plasma which can be caused by plasma instabilities.

To make it clear: we know how to run tokamaks without disruptions – they won’t have the highest performance though as required for ITER target regime for Q=10. So disruptions are associated to the search for high performance”, says Martin.

However, the physics of disruption is not yet fully understood. Disruptions and runaways are the riskiest events in a fusion experiment. Talking about risk in fusion means the risk of damaging the tokamak, which costs money and time. “Since we want to learn how to run a fusion reactor in an efficient and cost-effective way, the EUROfusion programme undertakes high priority experimental and theoretical efforts to understand how to avoid them or mitigate their effects. We – in the MST task force – are taking this commitment very seriously”, states Martin.

them to speed up like world record sprinters and how can they be stopped? The fusion scientists of the EUROfusion Medium Size Tokamak (MST) Task Force are working hard on this during the current experimental campaign.

THE MOST DANGEROUS EVENT A gas with a temperature of several tens of millions degrees is used to fuel fusion experiments. At these temperatures, negatively charged electrons in the atoms are able to obtain sufficient energy to be freed from their bindings with their parenting nuclei – leaving them behind as positively charged ions. In fusion plasmas, hot electrons and ions move in random directions frequently colliding against each other. e process seems as chaotic as a bunch of flies in a box. Scientists want these motions and collisions to take place since thermonuclear fusion reaction occurs only when two light nuclei (ions) come close to one another at a speed fast enough to overcome their Coulomb (charge) repulsion, allowing the nuclei to fuse.

But what happens to the lonely electrons? Usually they move around in the plasma, collide with other particles and cause no harm. But one of the scariest moments during fusion experiments occurs when electrons are able to change their motion and beginning to rush unstoppably on their race course. When this happens, they reach a velocity almost as fast as the speed of light and carry a significant amount of plasma electrical current. Under these conditions they are referred to as runaway electrons and may cause major damage to the tokamak.

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MAGNETIC FIELDS AS RACE TRACKS “It can occur, that the drag force of the collisions becomes smaller than the driving force due to the intense electric field present when plasma collapses”, says Piero Martin. Being finally unstoppable, a large fraction of plasma electrons feels a need to reach the finish line as soon as possible. Just like Usain Bolt, regarded as the

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| Moving Forward | EUROfusion |

THE CHALLENGE OF INVENTING AN AIRBAG FOR ITER fastest man in history, at the beginning of a very straight and empty track. e runaway electrons will accelerate along the magnetic field lines which act as tracks for them, to a velocity close to the speed of light. e resulting high power beam then circulates like a strong ring through the doughnut-shaped vessel of the fusion experiment. If it stays focused and hits a plasma facing component it may cause major damage, such as melting or even destroying materials.

FLOODING THE RACE COURSE WITH PEOPLE As Piero Martin explains, there are two ways to stop the electrons from speeding. One way is the injection of a noble gas such as argon or neon when the beam materialises. e large atoms of the additional gas in the plasma become great obstacles for the little sprinting electrons.

“It is like flooding the race course of a speeding Usain Bolt with hundreds of people.

He will bump into them and unavoidably stop. Just like what happens to us when we are late and try to run across a station trying to catch a train … the crowd will slow us down”, explains Piero Martin. “is is what we call the Massive Gas Injection mitigation experiment, and the preliminary results of the experiments in ASDEX-Upgrade are very encouraging”. Another solution designed to put the brakes on the evil runaways would be to bend their path to increase their unfocused losses.

With the help of an additional magnetic field – produced with the same coils used for ELM mitigation (see the article ‘Keeping it on the boil: ree tokamaks and one stellarator’, p. 4-5) - the electrons are forced to zigzag through the

plasma, and are no longer able to create their focused beam. As a result, the beam is defocused and no longer dangerous.

THE CRASH TEST FOR THE TOKAMAK Like a crash test on a newly developed car, the experts have provoked such dangerous events in order to examine them properly. As of last year, they are able to trigger those electron beams under safe conditions in ASDEX-Upgrade.

So, the scientists study mitigation techniques without damaging the machine.

Besides ASDEX-Upgrade, TCV and JET, also devices such as COMPASS, FTU and RFX are used for studying the problem and a significant modeling effort is undergoing in several labs. e Task Force Leader reveals what is behind all the sprinting research: “What we are in fact working on is an airbag for disruptions and run-away beams in ITER, that protects our investment in the device. We don’t ever want these things to happen, and we plan carefully to avoid them. But if they do, then we will know how to deal with them.” n

CONTACTS Piero Martin piero.martin@igi.cnr.it EUROfusion /fusion2050 /FusionInCloseUp

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FUSION IN EUROPE

JET’S NEXT TRITIUM EXPERIMENTS MATERIALISE The first delivery of tritium has arrived at the

JET – INVALUABLE FOR ITER

Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE), home

EUROfusion scientists are currently increasing their focus on the preparation of the upcoming DT campaign. is will be a major step towards achieving an understanding of ITER’s plasma. “We are now exploring the performance limits of deuterium plasmas. e goal of deuterium-tritium experiments is to prove that our findings can be applied to the fuel mixture that will be used in a fusion reactor”, says Lorne Horton, Head of the JET Exploitation Unit. “e results of the tritium experiments are invaluable for ITER, which must demonstrate the feasibility of fusion as an energy source.”

of the Joint European Torus (JET). Europe’s flagship research facility is preparing for another high-power deuterium-tritium (DT) campaign, the first since 1997 during which 16 megawatts of fusion power were produced. Deuterium-tritium operations are rare events and spark curiosity amongst the scientific community.

EXTENDING THE JET SCHEDULE A QUESTION OF LICENSING AND SAFETY Usually, experiments at JET are fuelled by deuterium, sometimes supplemented by campaigns with hydrogen plasmas.

While these plasmas behave in a similar way to the targeted DT plasmas, the experiments carried out in 1997 showed that there are significant differences compared to DT. Since then, JET has undergone major changes, in particular, the vessel wall has been rebuilt using beryllium and tungsten making it more ITER-like with a considerable impact on plasma behaviour.

For this reason, the ITER-like wall in JET now needs to be tested under conditions similar to those that the real ITER wall will have to face.

“For licensing reasons, only a limited amount of tritium may be transferred into the JET tritium storage facility at any one time. Additional batches will be delivered later in order to make up a total amount of 55 grams in addition to the approximately 5 grams still remaining from 1997. In this way, we will have the amount we need for the scheduled campaign”, states Tim Jones, CCFE Senior Manager for the JET Operating Contract.

Realising a DT campaign at JET also means ensuring that the operating staff has been trained to safely work with radioactive tritium. Since JET is the only machine capable of operating with tritium, this training is a unique opportunity to prepare for ITER.

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At present, JET experiments are scheduled to end in 2018, when Europe’s largest experiment on fusion will slowly close its massive torus hall doors. EUROfusion has already approached the European Commission concerning an extension of JET operation by two years, primarily for scientific reasons. is wish is supported by the recent outcome of a working group on the assessment of the ‘D-T readiness’ of JET. Richard J. Hawryluk, professor at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (USA), led the ad hoc group, which carried out the results in the first half of 2015. eir conclusion: A DT campaign can only entirely accomplish its full objectives within the extended schedule.

Following the working group’s reasoning in early July, the EUROfusion members unanimously endorsed the proposed extension to 2020 during the General Assembly, the ultimate decision making body made up of representatives from all Research Units.

“An extended schedule would give us additional time to prepare the experiments and exploit the ITER-like wall more intensively. We hope to receive an in principle agreement from the European Commission after summer, which will enable us to adjust the schedule accordingly. However, we are aware that the formal decision regarding the future of the EUROfusion programme beyond 2018 can only be made in 2017”, says Tony Donné, EUROfusion Programme Manager. n

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| Moving Forward | Research Units |

A SPECIAL EYE ON THE STELLARATOR WALL

A newly developed camera head in Hungary was specially adapted to the stringent requirements of the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X. (Pictures: Wigner RCP)

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espite facing several challenges, project leader Gábor Kocsis is satisfied after all. At the end of June, he and his team from the Hungarian Wigner Research Centre for Physics, delivered the final parts of their unique ten-channel camera system to Wendelstein 7-X on time. eir ‘Event Detection Intelligent Camera’ (EDICAM), the special eye on the stellarator wall, is designed to detect radiation of plasma particles and local overheating and instantly feed this information back to the control system. e Hungarian project will help the stellarator to start operating accurately at the end of this year.

ONE CAMERA TO MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS e camera system must, primarily, protect the Wendelstein 7-X by detecting dangerous operational situations. erefore, the main challenge the researchers faced was inventing a prototype camera system to protect the stellarator wall. Hence, it must handle several requests: firstly, it must provide an overview video of the entire cross-section of the stellarator. Secondly, it must be fast enough to record plasma phenomena that changes at a speed greater than one-thousandth of a second as the plasma touches

the structural elements of the vessel wall. At the same time, the entire plasma discharge must be covered, for up to half-an-hour without storage problems. irdly, all of these events must be communicated promptly to the plasma control system. Additionally, the cameras must operate in the harsh environment of a high magnetic field, while being exposed to radioactivity and consideration heat radiation by the hot plasma. Above all this, the camera system will also be used for scientific investigations.

CAMERA NOW MAKES DECISIONS ON THE FLY e protection of the stellarator wall involves a wide angle view, recordings of up to 10,000 frames per second (fps) and footage lasting more than half an hour. is takes up storage space. Supported mostly by software, even contradictory requirements can be handled. EDICAM provides both a full-frame size overview and the fast observation of a small area. With the help of a special chip, large areas

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FUSION IN EUROPE need to be read out at a slow speed, whereas small areas need to be monitored at high speed. ese somewhat contradictory functions make it possible for the camera to make decisions on the fly. erefore, footage is analysed in real-time. is functionality inspired the name of this device: Event Detection Intelligent CAMera, or EDICAM for short.

Also, the detected events, if considered dangerous, must be able to influence the plasma control system. us, the controller then must take measures to protect the fusion machine. e storage problem has been solved by using powerful data acquisition technology: all sensor data from the EDICAM is streamed directly to SSD disks instead of using the limited camera memory like most cameras.

Hungarian scientist Tamás Szepesi adjusts the camera properly.

WATCHING FROM FOUR DIFFERENT ANGLES

4096 SHADES OF GREY

e special Hungarian camera system runs at 400 fps at full resolution, but is able to speed up the readout of interesting areas if pre-defined hazardous events occur. It was designed to simultaneously record the equivalent of a small movie, containing only a part of the whole image, while a full-sized movie is being recorded. It is like a TV-camera, transmitting a football match, with four integrated slowmotion cameras designed to zoom into various sections of the playing field. For the stellarator, this means that the EDICAM is capable of handling up to four so-called regions-of-interests (ROIs). is has been realised by the use of a special complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor sensor with non-destructive readout capability. Ordinary camera sensors erase the data when the image is read out, and when only a region-of-interest is read out. Contrary to that, EDICAM is capable of reading out (part of ) the data from the sensor without erasing it. It is like using “copy-paste” rather than “cut-paste”.

Besides the speed and the non-destructive readout capability, light intensity is more important to scientists than colour. erefore the sensor of the Hungarian camera provides a black-and-white image. However, it differentiates between 4096 shades, 16 times more than an ordinary camera. Additionally, interference filters can be used for colour selection.

Processing fast camera video streams in real-time requires very high computational power and the EDICAM system uses Field Programmable Gate Arrays for data processing and for camera control. ese advanced microchips are as fast as real hardware chips, but their internal structure, and hence functionality, is determined by a programme code loaded at start up. is enables the development of new features and the incorporation of such without the need for hardware modifications.

The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator is the cornerstone experiment of Mission 8 within the European fusion roadmap. This mission is dedicated to developing the stellarator line to maturity as an alternative way to achieving fusion electricity.

The Hungarian Wigner Research Centre for Physics is a signatory to the EUROfusion consortium and specialises in diagnostics.

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CAMERA SYSTEM PLAYS A KEY ROLE Video diagnostics project leader Gábor Kocsis is very happy with the system that his team achieved to mitigate scientific risks at the stellarator: “e video diagnostic system is one of the largest development projects of the Hungarian Research Unit. We hope it will play a key role in several investigations during the forthcoming experimental campaigns both with regard to the scientific field and the safety of the stellarator itself. Based on this successful cooperation between the Wigner RCP and Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics IPP, new projects have already been started.” n

CONTACTS Tamás Szabolics szabolics.tamas@wigner.mta.hu Research Unit /magfuzio @magfuziohu

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| Moving Forward | Research Units |

HAVING YOUR TOKAMAK CAKE AND EATING IT Interview with Boštjan Končar, Head of Slovenian Fusion Association What does the 10th anniversary of the SFA mean for Slovenian fusion research?

Although the Slovenian Fusion Association was officially founded in 2005, the year when it was finally decided that ITER will be built in Europe, research into fusion had already begun in Slovenia in the nineties. By becoming one of the European fusion research Units we have joined a large scientific community that, in my eyes, leads and directs global fusion research. We are truly delighted to have been a part of this community from the very start.

What challenges were faced?

It was not an easy task to establish coordinated fusion research in Slovenia as the fusion projects required major support from national funding authorities. In the beginning it took a lot of effort to attract and coordinate different laboratories. In 2012 the Slovenian research needed to be adapted in line with the European fusion roadmap. at helped SFA to successfully undergo the transition from the association-structured program to the consortiumbased programme of EUROfusion within Horizon 2020.

What really worked out well?

One of the highlights is the fusion exhibition, which SFA has taken over in 2008. Since then, we have successfully organised and led it for six consecutive years.

Especially since establishing SFA, fusion research in Slovenia has gained momentum. Now we are increasingly investigating, for instance, the development of new fusion materials as well as neutron detection and modelling. Our laboratories study plasma physics and plasma-wall interaction. Furthermore, our research groups deal with numerical simulations involved in the DEMO design. Last but not least, the first EUROfusion Engineering Grant was received by a researcher from the University of Ljubljana.

Where can improvements be made?

We still need to put a lot of effort into obtaining stable national funding for fusion activities. Also, we are trying to attract the best students and increase the involvement of young researchers in the experimental campaigns in European tokamaks.

ˇerc ˇek, Cutting the celebration cake in the shape of a tokamak: Milan C First Head of SFA and Uršula Turšicˇ. (Picture: Marjan Smerke)

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oung, excellent and ambitious – is what the Slovenian Fusion Association (SFA) claims to be. It was in 2005 when the Slovenian Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education founded the merger. Even today the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) leads the compound which also includes the laboratories of the Universities of Ljubljana and Nova Gorica. Almost half of its project leaders are younger than 40 years but are highly experienced and enjoy support from older colleagues when it comes to supporting ITER, JET or ASDEX-Upgrade. e party to mark the 10th anniversary of the SFA took place at the Milan Čopič Nuclear Training Centre, about 20 km north-east of Ljubljana. e party set heard presentations from Jadran Lenarčič, Director of the Institute and Urban Krajcar, Director-General of Science Directorate, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. Even Simon Webster, the Head of the Fusion Energy Unit in the European Commission, paid a courtesy visit to the SFA and listened to a presentation from Boštjan Končar, the current Head of the cluster. His predecessor, Milan Čerček, provided a historical overview of Slovenia’s fusion research and was subsequently awarded the honour of cutting into the lovely Tokamak-shaped cake. e Slovenian Company Confetto put a lot of effort in the creation of the tart, giving an impression of SFA’s goal: Supporting a working tokamak and therefore the future of fusion research. n

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FUSION IN EUROPE

A NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN An authentic comment from ITER’s DirectorGeneral Bernard Bigot in the magazine Nature caused the fusion society to hold its breath.

In the article ‘Pull together for fusion’, published on 9th of June 2015, Bernard Bigot listed several problems of mismanagement and miscommunication within the ITER project and discussed how he intends to adjust the ITER management board proper to meet its needs. Fusion in Europe talked to Bernard Bigot about the details in the changed communication within the coming experiment on fusion, its delayed schedule and its influence on the European fusion roadmap. To the Director-General of ITER, EUROfusion’s key facility, the Joint European Torus (JET) is of particular value for the mitigation of risks in future ITER plasmas.

you started as new ITER Director-General, were you fully aware of all the struggles you would have to face?

I was aware of the difficulties the project was facing. But I would not use the word “struggle,” which is a bit too harsh.

Let’s say that certain situations require more dialogue and concertation …

We need now to foster an atmosphere in which all actors feel personally responsible for the project, not just for their area of specific competence. All Domestic Agency Heads share this vision. Now, the day-to-day reality is always slightly different from what you anticipate. Old habits die hard …

You wrote that new channels of communications will be set up.

How, specifically, will this be done?

Efficient communication between the Central

What motivated you to write such a decisive and honest statement about ITER’s current status in the magazine Nature?

I was asked to contribute a comment on the present status of ITER. I am glad you find this piece “decisive and honest”. at is what I intended. It is very important for me to respond to media requests. ITER is a complex project and needs to be explained to the public. When you explain, when you try to share your convictions and pre-occupations, you have to do it with absolute honesty. Honesty is in my nature, and as Director-General of the ITER Organization it is also my duty.

Your academic and political work for the past 20 years have always been close to the realisation of ITER. When

12

Steering the wheel of an international Sun chariot: Illustration of Bigot’s challenges at ITER as used in the magazin Nature.

(Courtesy of David Parkins)

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| Interview | Team and the Domestic Agencies, and among the seven Domestic Agencies is crucial to the success of ITER. e project is a collective venture that relies on a constant flux of scientific, technical, administrative and political exchanges. e “Unique ITER Team” was an important step in the right direction. During “UIT week”, once a month, the Heads of the Domestic Agencies and their closest collaborators were physically present at ITER Headquarters, which created a strong team spirit within the global management and promoted the shared ownership of project objectives.

In the new Executive Project Board (EPB), which I chair, the Heads of the Domestic Agencies join the ITER Deputy Director-Generals. It is an action-focused forum that, for the first time, fully engages all ITER Domestic Agencies in the strategic decision-making process for the project.

Going public with your personal view on ITER seemed a major step towards external communication. Are there more changes to come with regard to ITER’s public relations?

We owe communication to the public, and by “public” I mean the stakeholders of the ITER Members, the general public, the fusion community, industry, the communities closest to the ITER site etc.

Along with our weekly publication Newsline and our quarterly ITER Magazine, we are now working in close collabo-

ration with the seven Domestic Agencies and the French agency for ITER (Agence ITER France) to publish a newsletter in eight different languages that will provide a vision of project milestones on a regular basis. A new Head of Communication (Editor’s note: US-American Laban Coblentz), will take up his duty on 1st of September. e Management Assessment Team review on ITER in 2013 revealed that “detrimental behaviours, demotivated staff and cynicism” surfaced – how will you manage to enthuse ITER’s staff again?

I won’t deny this reality. But I cannot and will not accept “detrimental behaviours” and “cynicism”. We are collectively engaged in one of the most daunting challenges in human history and such attitudes are simply not tolerable. Demotivation, although regrettable, is something different. It can be the result of personal frustration with bureaucracy or with line management. is can be fixed.

My door is open and everyone is welcome to discuss matters directly with me. And I must say that, since 5th of March, many people have passed through my door and many an issue has been solved this way.

Dr Bernard Bigot was appointed Director-General of the ITER Organization on 5 March 2015. e former University Professor of Physical Chemistry at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and Administrator General of the CEA (since January 2009) was delegated by the French government in 2008 to act as High Representative for the implementation of ITER. Bernard Bigot has contributed to more than 70 scientific publications on quantum physical chemistry and about 25 articles on energy policy.

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FUSION IN EUROPE

Director-general Bernard Bigot (right) at the ITER site.

(Picture: ITER Organization)

ITER is no ordinary venture. I hope that everyone in the project is fully conscious of the historical dimensions of the challenge we are taking up. Working for ITER is a privilege we must all be worthy of.

ITER is the key facility of the European Fusion Roadmap.

How will the European fusion programme be affected by the change in ITER’s schedule?

Once we have developed a more quantitative analysis of the revised ITER schedule, it will be easier to see how the European fusion programme will adapt to the delay. A collaborative approach drawing on the extensive knowledge and expertise in the European fusion programme will be good preparation for ITER operation and will support the efficient implementation of the ITER Research Plan.

How can JET support ITER in the near future?

I would clearly like to develop an even closer collaboration between the ITER experts and their counterparts in the EUROfusion programme in order to make the most effective preparations for ITER operation. Given its very specific capabilities, JET is able to make a substantial contribution to these preparations, and a deepening of our collaboration is warranted. In the near future, JET’s experimental programmes on developing plasmas with high fusion performance, studying disruptions and disruption mitigation, investigating ELM control techniques, and characterising plasma wall interactions with the ITERlike wall can be of particular value in providing input to address some of ITER’s short-term issues. n

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Statement from Tony Donné, EUROfusion Programme Manager With the release of the ‘roadmap to the realisation of fusion energy’ in 2012, ITER’s way to fusion has become an integral part of the European fusion research programme in Horizon 2020.

ITER is the culmination of all previous efforts and the only device to prove that fusion energy can be realised. e expertise is widely spread throughout Europe. Twenty-nine consortium members and more than 100 third-parties linked to them, depend more than ever on ITER’s success.

I therefore take the liberty to speak for the European fusion community and underpin our strong support for ITER. What is more, I personally appreciate the remarkably frank statement of Bernard Bigot in Nature. I believe that putting the finger on weaknesses and wrongdoing is painful but it is the only cure to help the patient to robust recovery.

Since 2012, we have been implementing the eight missions of the roadmap. We will soon prepare a revised version on the basis of the experiences made. Additionally, we are going to adapt the roadmap to ITER’s needs and new schedule.

Herewith, I want to make it clear that we back Bernard Bigot and the colleagues in the ITER Organization and will continue to pursue the dream of fusion with all our energy.

Tony Donné

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FUSION IN EUROPE INVITES Ortwin Renn ADDRESS PEOPLE’S CONCERNS NOW!

F

usion technology appears to be the undercover agent among the candidates for future energy systems. e topic of replacing fossil and nuclear energy with renewable energy sources is fiercely discussed in the public and dominates energy debates throughout Europe. is is a striking contrast with the current public attention that fusion energy is receiving: Namely very little! e development of technologies related to fusion energy is certainly not popular among Europeans, but fusion technology does not trigger the same amount of public attention, let alone the amount of opposition and scepticism faced by, for instance, nuclear or coal-fired power plants. is does not mean, however, that the general public is indifferent or even favourable to the application of fusion technology for energy production. As long as fusion research remains located within basic research labs, most public commentators have no incentive or motivation to initiate a campaign against fusion. ey are too busy encouraging the fight against nuclear and fossil power production. As soon as fusion research moves into building prototypes or even first demonstration projects, this approach may change drastically. Many sceptics of the conventional energy systems will also be adamantly opposed to fusion energy once it becomes more feasible.

We have conducted inquiries into public opinion and positions on fusion over the last ten years. Since most members of the public are not yet familiar with the main characteristics of fusion energy, we organised focus groups with different sets of the public (engineers, mothers with children, science journalists and others) in which information about fusion was provided before the discussion started. e information consisted of purely technical background knowledge and statements from different points of view that people reviewed and digested.

To summarise the results, it is quite obvious that all the focus groups came to the unanimous conclusion that renewable energy and conservation remain the preferred options for meeting future energy needs.

Given these results one might conclude that it is best to keep the issue hidden under the carpet and hope that, once the technology is proven and tested, public acceptance will follow automatically. is is a grand illusion! It is not prudent at all to wait and hope that, in the future, this potential opposition and scepticism will disappear.

On the contrary: I would expect that, the closer we get to an operating reactor, the more opposition we will face. For this reason, it seems much more appropriate to address people's concerns in this phase of relative calm rather than in a future phase of public protest. e debate may prove or disprove that a sustainable energy future includes fusion as an element for providing reliable base load electricity.

However, it is without doubt that fusion will be a viable candidate for being included in the future energy mix. e most important component of that debate must be the conclusion that fusion is not a relic of old conventional technologies but rather an integral and meaningful component of the envisioned energy transition. When you have energy technologies, such as wind and solar, which are characterised by major fluctuations in supply, then a new technology capable of providing constant energy all year round with no restrictions on access to resources as well as manageable environmental impacts may be useful in convincing the population of the world that it is not only environmentally justified but also socially responsible to welcome fusion as a component of the desired energy transition worldwide. n

Ortwin Renn serves as professor for environmental sociology and technology assessment and as the director of the Stuttgart Research Center for Interdisciplinary Risk and Innovation Studies at the University of Stuttgart. Among other things, he co-directs the German Helmholtz-Alliance: “Future infrastructures for meeting energy demands. Towards sustainability and social compatibility“. Renn is primarily interested in risk governance, political participation as well as the technical and social changes with regard to sustainability. Renn has published more than 30 books and 250 articles, most prominently the monograph “Risk Governance”.

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FUSION IN EUROPE | Community | People |

YOUNG FACES OF FUSION

MARWA BEN YAALA Marwa Ben Yaala (25) is a Tunisian PhD student studying at the University of Basel. Her work on plasma-facing components is funded by a EUROfusion engineering grant. Marwa speaks Arabic, French, English and German and has completed a diploma in engineering and a master in material science at the European Engineering School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials Science in Strasbourg. Before she started her PhD, she was a scientific assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP in Dresden. Her university is linked to the Swiss partner of the EUROfusion Consortium, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

about the EUROfusion programme and its engineering grant. And since I fulfilled the various criteria necessary to apply for it, I sent in my application.

How did you come to choose a fusion topic for your PhD? Along with my background as a material science engineer, my choice of subject was based mainly on my interest in energy research, my concern about the environment and the continuous energy demand. I believe that nuclear fusion, as a safe and sustainable energy source, will be the best way to satisfy the energy needs associated with continued economic growth. at is why I want to participate in making fusion energy a commercial reality by dealing with some challenges concerning the plasma-facing materials.

Is a female fusion scientist still something unusual or is this old-fashioned thinking?

It is true that men still dominate the nuclear fusion research field. But, I think this is not a reason to consider the female fusion scientist something unusual. Today, more than ever, the world needs both male and female scientists to solve the expanding energy demand and its environmental impacts. As nuclear fusion is believed to be a safe and clean energy source, it’s the community’s duty to encourage women to take a more active role in the fusion research.

What made you apply for the EUROfusion Engineering Grant?

At first, I was interested in the University of Basel activities in plasma-wall interaction for fusion, now led by Prof Ernst Meyer, which have been running for more than 26 years.

When I started my PhD I asked Dr. Laurent Marot, my thesis supervisor, whether I would be able to join his group on plasma-facing components. It was he who told me then

You will be visiting JET, WEST and IPP along with their host institutes. Do you favour any site?

I don’t really have a preference for any one facility. For me the most important thing is to discuss ideas with scientists from different laboratories and learn from their experience. Also, I am really interested in exploring the different facilities, instruments and characterisation as well as new technologies used in the field. n

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Have you ever thought about working for the world’s biggest fusion experiment ITER? Working for ITER would be a great opportunity for me, since my future aim is to pursue international research in the field of plasma-facing components and plasma-wall interaction. I seek answers to scientific problems using both experimental and computational approaches. A few weeks ago I was at the ITER site and I had the opportunity to speak to ITER scientists. I presented my PhD programme and my possible contribution. I would say ITER is not an end in itself but a bridge towards building industrialised fusion energy. By producing more power than it consumes, ITER will take fusion to the point where an industrial application is able to provide a new clean, safe and unlimited energy source.

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| Community | In Dialogue |

A POP UP SCHOOL

(Picture: Martin Kornmes, ESO)

FOR FUTURE EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS The EIROforum School on Instrumentation was set up to teach students from different areas of research about what is going on in related fields. This year, the school took place in Garching, offering two EIROforum members, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and EUROfusion, the chance to promote themselves.

Co-organisers Mikhail Turnyanskiy (EUROfusion) and Mark Casali (ESO) discuss thinking outside the box and how important it is to inspire highly trained students.

M

ore than 80 participants with a strong scientific background in a variety of disciplines, ranging from molecular biology to physics and fusion to astronomy, attended this year’s EIROforum School on Instrumentation. e biennial event is jointly organised by the EIROforum Working Group Instrumentation.

EIROforum School on Instrumentation Eight organisations aim to combine their resources, facilities and expertise to support European science in reaching its full potential. EIROforum maintains a series of Thematic Working Groups.

One of them specialises in Instrumentation and organises the EIROforum School on Instrumentation every two years.

STEP OUT OF THE LABORATORY BOX “Within the participating labs and their specialised research there is always an overlap of interest in solving common issues”, says Mark Casali. According to him, the main problem he faced while organising the school was defining lectures that, on the one hand, have an advanced scientific background and provide options for cross-fertilisation in the field of instrumentation but which are, on the other hand, accessible to participants from different disciplines.

“Of course, there are lots of transferable technologies. We provide the chance to exchange detailed internal knowledge and the ability to step out of the laboratory box”, adds Mikhail Turnyanskiy.

FACILITIES PROUDLY PRESENTED THEMSELVES But it wasn’t all lessons. e participants were able to tour the local research facilities in Garching, such as the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the tokamak ASDEXUpgrade and its supporting equipment, as well as the ESO laboratories and their adaptive optic systems, along with components for e European Extremely Large Telescope. e Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics presented precision spectroscopy with hydrogen to its enthusiastic audience. Turnyanskiy is pleased: “It was great to see how eagerly the IPP students presented their work.”

SCIENTISTS WHO WILL EXPLORE ITER Above all, the school is not only a forum for knowledge exchange among the students. It is also the chance for laboratories to present their research to highly skilled young scientists: “ose could be the ones who will explore ITER, so it is important to raise their awareness of fusion research. If we attract their attention now, we will profoundly benefit from their expertise”, predicts Turnyanskiy. n

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FUSION IN EUROPE

OUT OF THE TOKAMAK FUSION TO INDUSTRY An initiative of the European Commission and EUROfusion

Fusion Technology Transfer Programme Built on ESA experience

ESA Existing communication network with industry

ESA Broker System An infrastructure of 14 organisations operating in most of the ESA member states

Adapted to fusion research

How can the outcome of European fusion research serve your daily life? – This is the question that FUTTA wanted to answer. The Fusion Technology Transfer Action figured out 24 original fusion inventions that can be used by other industries. The project, initiated by the European Commission and EFDA (now EUROfusion) realised seven success stories in non-fusion technologies. Although the project has now officially come to an end, some participants hope for a sequel.

“e main aim of our project is to show society that fusion research has an impact on people’s daily life”, says Lluc Diaz, Technology Transfer Officer in the FUTTA project. e European Commission and EFDA set up the project two years ago. e idea behind it: to analyse the potential of technologies developed in the EUROfusion programme for other industries, for example automotive, aeronautics, health care or the process industry. So, selected EUROfusion labs* joined the project along with several other partners.

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY COORDINATED FUTTA Mediation EUROfusion research labs and ESA brokers

Promote fusion Brokers reached out to industry

Define technologies EUROfusion research labs and ESA brokers

Results

900 companies were contacted and were introduced to fusion inventions

by EUROfusion

24 technology descriptions with the potential to be realised

FUTTA 2.0 18

e FUTTA project took advantage of an existing industry network from the European Space Agency (ESA), working with a broker system to approach the non-space market. e broker network is an infrastructure of 14 organisations that operate in most of the ESA member states. “ere are a lot of similarities between fusion and space research: both have demanding applications in common requiring ultimate performances and reliability. Often the environment is extremely harsh and technologies for both Fusion and Space must reach a high Technology Readiness Level”, says Diaz. Hence, the European Space Agency (ESA) served as the coordinator for the FUTTA project.

AN

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| Community | Marketplace |

AND INTO INDUSTRY SECURING EUROPE’S GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS To get in touch with the market outside of fusion technology two organisations also supported FUTTA’s marketpull strategy: the UK-based Science and Technology Facilities Council and the German Centre of Satellite Navigation in Hesse. ese brokers reached out via direct contact with companies, and attended more than 20 nonfusion events, such as the Hannover Fair or the Forensics and Counter Terrorism Expo in London. e FUTTA operation resulted, after all, in an outcome of 24 technologies from fusion research but which appealed to non-fusion industries. Furthermore, the brokers reached out to a total of 900 companies in order to promote the ideas. “e technologies from Europe’s space programmes have already turned out to be great problem-solvers here on Earth. e fusion technology is no different than any other in that retrospect and the FUTTA pilot has shown a lot of potential with examples of non-fusion technology applications”, says Frank Salzgeber, Head of ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO). “Our ESA TTPO aims to transfer technologies into new or existing companies, create jobs and improve regional economies, thus helping to secure Europe’s global competitiveness. By strengthening the relationships between fusion, space and other industries, we will be able to generate more crosstechnology transfer and thus, generate more impact on society.”

SAFELY HARVESTING THE SUN’S ENERGY One of the success stories is a research result from Forschungszentrum Jülich, which now may enter into the space industry. Jülich scientists invented “Self-passivating ‘smart’ alloys”, which were originally needed for diagnostics and plasma-facing components in the tokamak. e wall of a fusion reactor requires a cover layer with a high melting point, high thermal conductivity and low erosion. erefore, tungsten is a typical material for tokamak vessels, just like the ITER-like wall at JET. A failure of the cooling may lead to high temperatures in the tungsten layer. Along with atmospheric oxygen, tungsten trioxide could form and pollute the plasma. Consequently, the researchers developed the smart self-passivating alloys which prevent the gas generation in the event of accidents. Within the FUTTA

Participating laboratories

Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik

Forschungszentrum Jülich

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

Culham Center for Fusion Energy

GE RMA NY

GE RMA NY

GE RMA NY

UNITED KINGDOM

approach, it is now the plan to use Jülich’s invention in receivers of solar-thermic power plants.

Will there be a FUTTA 2.0?

In hindsight FUTTA gained momentum towards the finish. at is why currently 14 mediations with industrial partners are ongoing despite the official end of the project in June 2015.

In the review meeting the participants agreed that the pilot project had raised awareness and an essential step had been made. Diaz opts for FUTTA 2.0: “We would like to involve the other EUROfusion laboratories as well. Our brokers would support them in the transfer of their technologies onto the market.”

Looking ahead down the road towards the first fusion power plant, even EUROfusion’s programme manager Tony Donné is genuinely in favour of a continuation: “From JET to ITER and DEMO, fusion research has been moving step-by-step from pure research towards an increasing amount of engineering tasks. Industry involvement is therefore a must for us. I recommend building on the experiences made, and I hope we can launch a follow-up of FUTTA in due time.”

Until then interested companies are welcome to visit the homepage of the FUTTA project: www.esa-tec.eu. It presents the identified FUTTA technologies and provides further contact. n Find the FUTTA brochure here:

CONTACTS Lluc Diaz lluc.diaz@esa.int

@llucdiaz

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FUSION IN EUROPE

PORTRAITS AT AN EXHIBITION

Eva Belonohy

Stephen Hall

Sarah Medley

David Homfray

Lydia Feasey

James Buchanan (Pictures: CCFE)

T

he Culham Centre for Fusion Energy recently invited the public to an art and photography exhibition held at the Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot near Oxford.

Among other things, the ‘Making Sun on Earth’ exposition promoted videos and photographs of fusion scientists working for the English fusion facilities. e idea was to show the individuals behind fusion science. ey are not ‘mad professors’ in white coats but ordinary people with a strong personal motivation: Eva Belonohy, experimental physicist at JET, Stephen Hall, engineering group leader at CCFE, Sarah Medley, graduate physicist at CCFE, David

20

Homfray, plasma heating engineer at JET, Lydia Feasey, mechanical technician at CCFE and James Buchanan, theoretical physicist were some of the introduced personalities. n You can watch the full interviews here: /culhamfusionenergy

CONTACTS Nick Holloway nick.holloway@ccfe.ac.uk

EUROfusion @fusionenergy

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| Community | News |

EVERYTHING WAS

ILLUMINATED

Visitors at the brightly-lit ASDEX-Upgrade listening to a guide during the Long Night of Science in Garching, Germany. (Picture: Axel Griesch, IPP)

F

or the Long Night of Science on Saturday, 27th June, 2015, the ASDEX-Upgrade was lit up brightly and colourfully. ASDEX-Upgrade is a EUROfusion facility located in Garching (Germany) at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics IPP. On that very night, the illuminated pipes of the tokamak left visitors utterly stunned when they entered the operating room, since it looks like a regular factory building on working days. Furthermore during that event, IPP organisers presented hands on experiments with illumination to a fascinated audience. In particular, the presentation on the basics of fusion technology held

by Prof Sibylle Günter, Scientific Director of IPP, attracted so many people, that the lecture hall had to be closed due

to overcrowding. In total 11,000 people attended the special science night, visiting not only the IPP but also the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Technische Universität München, the European Southern Observatory and several other research institutes at the Garching campus. n

CONTACTS Isabella Milch milch@ipp.mpg.de Research Unit /MaxPlanckInstitutFuerPlasmaphysik @PlasmaphysikIPP

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FUSION IN EUROPE | Perspectives |

+

summing up

“When I saw ASDEX Upgrade, … … I thought of all the progress that could be made from it … progress in terms of energy solutions. Soon, we will run out of fossil fuels. So we’ll have to use new sources of energy. Fusion and tokamaks are a really great way to obtain energy [in the future].”

Mathilde Leuridan, 15, from the European School in Munich, did a placement at the EUROfusion Programme Management Unit in Garching, Germany.

FUSION … is LOVE “When two people fall in love, the two individuals immediately feel like they have been filled with an extra source of energy like fusing two passionate atoms together. ermonuclear Fusion produces exactly the same result and conjuring up a considerable amount of energy. Just like the sun, warming up our two lovers, the reaction from the fusion devices is able to supply the world for the rest of the humanity.”

Christophe Roux, Assistant Communication at the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives found the right words.

Imprint FUSION IN EUROPE ISSN 1818-5355

For more information see the website: www.euro-fusion.org

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EUROfusion Programme Management Unit – Garching Boltzmannstr. 2 85748 Garching / Munich, Germany phone: +49-89-3299-4128 email: anne.purschwitz@euro-fusion.org editors: Petra Nieckchen, Anne Purschwitz Subscribe at newsletter@euro-fusion.org /fusion2050 @PetraonAir @FusionInCloseUp @APurschwitz

© Tony Donné (EUROfusion Programme Manager) 2015.

This newsletter or parts of it may not be reproduced without permission. Text, pictures and layout, except where noted, courtesy of the EUROfusion members. The EUROfusion members are the Research Units of the European Fusion Programme. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in this newsletter lies entirely with the authors.

Neither the Research Units or anyone acting on their behalf is responsible for any damage resulting from the use of information contained in this publication.

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EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUSION ENERGY

REALISING FUSION ELECTRICITY BY 2050

Austrian Academy of Sciences

Ecole Royale Militaire Laboratory for Plasma Physics

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Ru er Boškovi Institute

University of Cyprus

Institute of Plasma Physics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

AUS TRIA

B E LG I U M

B U LG A R I A

C ROAT I A

C Y P RU S

CZEC H REPUBLIC

Technical University of Denmark

University of Tartu

Technical Research Centre of Finland

Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives

DENMARK

E S TO N I A

FINLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

GERMANY

Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik

National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos"

Wigner Research Centre for Physics

Dublin City University

Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile

GERMANY

GREECE

H U N G A RY

IRELAND

I TA LY

L AT VIA

Lithuanian Energy Institute

Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion

Instituto Superior Técnico

Institute for Atomic Physics

Comenius University

Jožef Stefan Institute

LITHUANIA

POLAND

PORTUGAL

RO M A N I A

S LOVA K I A

SLOVENIA

Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas

Swedish Research Council

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter

SPAIN

SW E D E N

SW I T Z E R L A N D

THE NETHERLANDS

UNITED KINGDOM

Our partners:

F4E

FRANCE

SPAIN

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This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 633053.

The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.

l Fusion laboratories l EUROfusion partners

ISSN 1818-5355